Investment News articles from October 2005

Investment News archives from October 2005

AIG sets its sights on a $20 billion stock lode.(Reverse Spin)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Sounds like New York's American International Group Inc. is having some control issues. On Tuesday, AIG filed papers in federal court in Manhattan stating its former chairman, Maurice R. "Hank''...

Lifestyle investing trumps other strategies.(Short Interests)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Rick Miller CHICAGO - Participants in John Hancock's 401(k) plans who contributed to a target-risk lifestyle fund between 2000 and 2004 experienced better investment performance than those who selected their own investment options,...

Financial companies a fit for working mothers.(Short Interests)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Gary S. Mogel NEW YORK - Regulators might not like financial companies, but mothers do. Thirty-five of the 100 best companies for working mothers are in the financial services industry, according to a survey released this...

Finding the gold in media relations.(Conference Call)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brooke Southall SEATTLE - The media relations session at Schwab IMPACT 2005 here last week had some of the feeling of a no-money-down real estate seminar where an enthusiastic expert tells an expectant crowd how to spin gold from...

Automatic features spur 401(k) participation; Few seen opting out of enrollment.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Rick Miller CHICAGO - While participation and contribution levels in 401(k) plans have stayed relatively flat over the past decade, the rise of autopilot features shows signs of breaking that trend, a new study shows. "I think...

'Bloated' funds of hedge funds draw critics.(Conference Call)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Jeff Benjamin SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda - As hedge funds continue to gain popularity, the fund-of-hedge-funds subcategory is evolving into a bifurcated industry that some say should be approached with caution. Although there might...

Big task for advisers: Reaching echo boomers.(Monday Morning)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Jim Pavia They spend $170 billion a year of their own and their parents' money, and they have $40 billion in savings. Born between 1977 and 1995, they are the 80 million Americans who make up Generation Y, also known as the echo...

Dispute forum for analysts eyed; CFA's plan takes SEC out of equation.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Sara Hansard WASHINGTON - The association that represents securities analysts wants to serve as a forum to resolve disputes between analysts and public companies, taking the Securities and Exchange Commission out of the equation....

401(k)s thrived in slump.(Short Interests)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Sara Hansard WASHINGTON - Americans who continuously maintained their 401(k) accounts from 1999 to 2004 had balance increases averaging 36% during one of the worst bear markets since the Great Depression. That is the chief...

Pension bill gains favor in Senate.(Short Interests)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Sara Hansard WASHINGTON - Two Senate committees came to an agreement last week on a pension bill that would require companies that give workers access to investment advice on their pension plans to use a registered investment...

As Fed stance pressures returns, focus should be expenses, taxes.(The Markets)
October 3, 2005... Because the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance on inflation is putting pressure on fixed-income-fund returns, investors should focus on those recurring factors that put a serious drag on fund performance: expenses and taxes. The...

At the Bell; Edward Jones fined 300G by NASD.(Late News)
October 3, 2005... Edward D. Jones & Co. LP of St. Louis was fined $300,000 by Washington-based NASD last Thursday for failing to disclose the yield in more than 86,000 municipal bond transactions totaling more than $1 billion in sales from January 2003 to April...

SEC slates first national CCO seminar.(Short Interests)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Sara Hansard WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold its first "CCOutreach Program National Seminar'' for mutual fund and investment adviser chief compliance officers Nov. 8 at the commission's headquarters...

Return-of-premium riders seen boosting term life insurance; Advisers wary of telling clients about additional cost.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Gary S. Mogel NEW YORK - Several major life insurers are promoting return-of-premium riders to jump-start their term life insurance sales. Riders returning to term life policyholders their premiums - sometimes with interest -...

Disaster preparedness takes on new meaning; Evacuation boxes, emergency checklists have become part of financial planning.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Rick Miller CHICAGO - Scenes of masses of people evacuating cities due to the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes has prompted financial advisers to urge clients to be ready in case they have to dash unexpectedly out the front door. ...

White House must address tax reform.(Editorial)
October 3, 2005... The hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast in the past month have also severely damaged the Bush administration's domestic agenda. The two highest priorities in that agenda were reform of the Social Security and income tax systems. ...

Dump stocks, buy commodities, advisers told.(Conference Call)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Dan Jamieson SEATTLE - Get out of stocks, get out of the country, and get into commodities. Jim Rogers, an author and market commentator, delivered that message to advisers affiliated with San Francisco-based Schwab...

Schwab again courting advisers with under $25M; `We probably took our eye off the ball,' custody unit official says.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brooke Southall SEATTLE - Conceding its mistakes, Schwab Institutional again is courting small advisers. The firm is ramping up its service teams and recruiting force dedicated to advisers with assets between $10 million and...

F3 may be overkill to avoid risk; Some call hedge fund structure a simple marketing concept.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Jeff Benjamin DETROIT - The hedge fund industry, long known for pushing the envelope, is starting to test the limits of diversification with an increasing focus on funds of funds of hedge funds. The basic concept, described by...

N.Y. suburb garden spot for disreputable reps; New crop of bucket shops hits Garden City.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Bruce Kelly NEW YORK - Garden City, N.Y., over the past 10 years has been home to some of the sleaziest individuals, branch offices and firms in the brokerage industry. "Almost everyone in the business knows who the bad firms...

New funds said to improve on life-cycle concept; Arrivato to advise five based on Dow target indexes.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: David Hoffman NEW YORK - Mutual funds that are expected to be launched next month make a few improvements to the target-maturity or life-cycle concept, but that may not warrant leaving existing target-maturity funds for the...

Weather forecasting gaining respect in hurricanes' wake; Some money managers aspire to predict more than just stock prices.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: David Hoffman NEW YORK - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have spotlighted a little-known, but possibly growing, industry within financial services - meteorological consulting. A small number of hedge funds and mutual fund companies...

Closing Quote.(Quotes)
October 3, 2005... "I know that there is a perception within the industry that we, as regulators, live to regulate.'' Robert Glauber, NASD chairman, explaining that the regulator is looking to help broker-dealers, not make their lives more difficult. ...

HSAs may be good for banks, bad for insurers; Substantial growth in accounts expected.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Gary S. Mogel NEW YORK - Health savings accounts will flourish and create new income opportunities for banks but could significantly reduce health insurers' premiums, according to a report released last month. About 740,000...

GAO finds popular tax breaks are a hazard to budget.(Tax Watch)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Mark Battersby The Government Accountability Office recently said that popular tax breaks built into U.S. laws are growing and threaten to worsen an already dire long-term-budget situation. The office reportedly was hoping to...

Merrill shuffles retail management; `Ambiguous' plan from new honcho leaves reps uncertain.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Dan Jamieson IRVINE, Calif. - Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. is shaking up its retail management structure, but brokers say the changes, announced internally last month, are "ambiguous'' and merely add another layer of management. ...

Life-policy auction site expands.(Short Interests)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Gary S. Mogel NEW YORK - An online auction system launched in April for life settlement policies now is open to advisers and agents. LifeX Inc. offers a website - life-x.com - that permits investors to bid on life insurance...

FPA series to focus on Medicare.(Short Interests)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Charles Paikert NEW YORK - Recent changes to Medicare will be the focus of four educational virtual seminars from the Denver-based Financial Planning Association this month. "Health care is an increasingly important part of a...

NASD to crack down on ETF, separates sales; Says focus should be on customers' needs rather than easy sells.(News)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Bruce Kelly NEW YORK - NASD soon might be taking a hard look at how broker-dealers and their registered representatives sell exchange traded funds and separate accounts, as well as other investment products. Robert Glauber,...

One on One With Kathleen Rehl of Rehl Financial Advisors.(One on One)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Jeff Benjamin Ten years ago, Kathleen Rehl saw an obvious niche market opportunity and jumped at it to form Rehl Financial Advisors in Land O'Lakes, Fla. Ms. Rehl, who is married to a pastor, has homed in on members of the...

Calendar.(Calendar/Datebook)
October 3, 2005... OCTOBER 5 - ERISA Workshop, SunGard Corbel Inc. Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, Bloomington, Ill. sungardcorbel.com. 6 - ERISA Workshop, SunGard Corbel Inc. Chicago Marriott Schaumburg (Ill.); Hilton Woodbridge, Iselin, N.J.;...

Disgusted at the dinner table.(Other Views)
October 3, 2005... Byline: William Berg "We would have done better if we had just left the money in the bank!'' If you hear this line at your dinner table, you will know we are in a secular bear market. In bull markets, emotions tend to be relative...

Timing the market with past returns? Good luck.(Other Views)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Matthew Spiegel America's favorite topic of discussion - after celebrity gossip - has to be whether the stock market is overvalued or undervalued - with good reason, too. Unlike most conversational topics, this one actually can...

Optimism prevails.(Industry Attitudes)
October 10, 2005... Financial advisers and planners are feeling good these days and expect 2006 to be the year growth-oriented stocks finally outperform their value-oriented counterparts, according to the fifth annual InvestmentNews Industry Attitudes survey. ...

'Do-gooders' bad-mouth each other.(Short Interests)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brooke Southall SAN FRANCISCO - A well-known public relations gadfly has started a tiny mutual fund company in an attempt to make a financial conglomerate run with its crowd. Action Fund Management LLC is calling on Citigroup...

Participation by workers in plans shows increase.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Barry B. Burr CHICAGO - Workers "were offered, participated in and were vested in a retirement plan'' at higher rates in 2003 than at any time since at least 1988, according to a new study by the Employee Benefit Research...

Increasing commission costs good news for money managers; Average charge higher on full-service-broker trades of 500G or more.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Gregory Crawford NEW YORK - The drumbeat of lower stock trading commissions continues, but new research from Plexus Group Inc. suggests that in some cases, commissions have increased slightly. That is good news, because it...

Nikko is looking abroad for institutional assets; `Extreme makeover' boosts retail biz; listing on Tokyo Stock Exchange is sought.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Douglas Appell BOSTON - Two years into an extreme makeover, Nikko Asset Management Co. Ltd. again is gathering healthy dollops of money from domestic retail investors. Now the Tokyo-based heavyweight is gearing up to boost its...

Plans' timing off when picking their managers; Good ones suffer after hiring; terminated ones improve.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Vince Calio NEW YORK - Plan sponsors are buying high and selling low, according to a new academic study. Plan sponsors over the past decade have tended to hire money managers after those managers had shown significant...

Alliance, MFS faring best after market-timing woes; Strongest gatherers of assets among firms fined heavily.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Douglas Appell BOSTON - Two years after Eliot L. Spitzer's market-timing dragnet, AllianceBernstein Capital Management LP and MFS Investment Management Inc. are the strongest asset gatherers among firms that paid hefty fines to...

Study: Nursing home cost tops 74G a year; Yet LTC insurance is still a tough sell.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Gary S. Mogel NEW YORK - The average cost for a private room in a U.S. nursing home now exceeds $200 a day and $74,000 annually - up 5.7% from the amount last year. That means the average nursing home stay of 2.4 years runs up...

Employees love gasoline subsidy.(Short Interests)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Gary S. Mogel NEW YORK - With gas prices soaring, just getting to the office has become a major investment for employees who drive to work. NorthStar Financial Services Group LLC of Omaha, Neb., has taken some of the sting out...

Planners claim own week.(Short Interests)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Charles Paikert NEW YORK - Financial planners received a public relations boost last week when nine states and more than 20 cities declared Oct. 3 Financial Planning Week. Local chapters of the Denver-based Financial Planning...

Russell lands ex-Schwab exec for wealth management; Will seek to leverage his experience there to attract RIA assets.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brooke Southall SAN FRANCISCO - Russell Investment Group has put an old industry hand in a new position to help recast it as a wealth management consulting firm. The Tacoma, Wash.-based money manager hired J. Nicholas Georgis...

Mechanism is in place to resolve analyst-company disputes.(Other Views)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Samuel B. Jones Jr. Retaliation against securities analysts continues to plague the working relationship between senior management of publicly traded companies and Wall Street sell-side analysts who cover the stocks. Such...

One on One With Brooks A. Taylor of MFS Investment Management.(One on One)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. You've got to hand it to Brooks A. Taylor - he is a team player. As lead manager for Boston-based MFS Investment Management Inc.'s flagship mutual fund, MFS Total Return Fund, he is responsible for...

TD's Bradley gets nod.(Short Interests)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brooke Southall SAN FRANCISCO - Ameritrade Holding Corp. has relieved the anxiety of TD Waterhouse Group Inc.'s financial advisers by letting them know that they get to keep president J. Thomas Bradley Jr. "It's a general...

Funds stay out of politics.(Short Interests)
October 10, 2005... Byline: David Hoffman NEW YORK - Mutual funds don't like to mix politics with business. That's the impression one gets after reading a report from the Center for Political Accountability in Washington. The report details how 27 of...

Planners: Business booming; mutual funds losing luster; 80% of survey respondents say firm revenue increased.(Industry Attitudes)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Charles Paikert NEW YORK - Business remains robust, and mutual funds are decreasing in popularity as a primary investment vehicle, according to financial planners and advisers surveyed by InvestmentNews. Nearly 80% of 755...

Advisers, showing optimism, see a shift to growth stocks; Expect change in market leadership.(Industry Attitudes)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. BOSTON - No one can say financial advisers aren't optimists. The fifth annual Industry Attitudes survey, conducted last month by InvestmentNews, found that most advisers expected 2006 to be the year...

Bush gets good grades, but handling of economy is faulted; Performance rating of president slips from last year.(Industry Attitudes)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Sara Hansard WASHINGTON - Advisers are less enthusiastic this year about the Bush administration's handling of the economy than they were in 2004, but the largest number continue to give the president a solid grade. Asked to...

Operational risk back in the spotlight; Execs worry about more than investment risk.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Vince Calio NEW YORK - Operational and political risk are back in vogue, thanks to the Enron Corp.-type blowups and to regulatory changes implemented in recent years, according to a new Bank of New York Co. Inc. survey endorsed by...

Growth firm looking to systematic approach; Nicholas-Applegate assembles team of 10.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Cecily O'Connor SAN FRANCISCO - After several years of bleeding assets, San Diego-based Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management is looking to its systematic strategies for a much-needed transfusion. Led by managing director...

Katrina has some lessons for the investment industry.(Fiduciary Corner)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Donald B. Trone The tragic images of Katrina have driven home a number of lessons, many of which are applicable to the investment industry. Don't ignore a fractured infrastructure. Everyone knew the levees eventually would fail...

Americans failing at financial literacy.(Editorial)
October 10, 2005... There is a justified fear among financial planners and advisers that many Americans are ill equipped to survive in this new, complex financial world. Therefore, building a much stronger relationship and overall understanding between...

Independent analysts facing a shortfall of dollars; Choices no better than those of investment banks.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Aaron Elstein CNS NEW YORK - In the spring of 2003, investment banker Guy Cohen opened an independent stock research firm, hoping to make a killing. Regulators had just forced big Wall Street firms to spend hundreds of millions...

Excuse for 30,000 taxpayers: My check is in the bay.(Tax Watch)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Mark Battersby The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that 30,000 estimated-tax payments from 13 different states fell into San Francisco Bay following a traffic accident. Taxpayers who could be affected include residents...

Calendar.(Calendar/Datebook)
October 10, 2005... OCTOBER 18-21 - Twentieth annual Fall Compliance Conference, National Regulatory Services. Loews Miami Beach (Fla.) Hotel. (860)435-0200 or nrs-inc.com. 18-21 - East Coast National Convention, Investors Capital Corp. Boston Park...

Citigroup deal leads to skirmish over closed-end fund; Two hedge funds seek to block management agreement in proxy.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: David Hoffman NEW YORK - Investing is tough enough without having to choose sides in a proxy fight, but it's something closed-end-fund investors are sometimes asked to do - usually because the fund in question trades at a discount...

For the class, a September to remember: Closed-end stock funds outran open peers.(The Markets)
October 10, 2005... Closed-end equity funds outperformed open-end stock mutual funds in September because of their asset mix: More closed-ends invest overseas; those markets outran local stocks. Especially strong were emerging markets and Japanese funds. ...

What's in a (branch) name? For some, $$.(Short Interests)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Bruce Kelly NEW YORK - In an effort to lighten the compliance burden on broker-dealers, regulators have hammered out a uniform definition of a branch office. Last Thursday, NASD and the North American Securities Administrators...

RBC Dain taps ex-president's kin as CEO as it focuses on wealth management; Taft picks his own management team.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Rosalyn Retkwa NEW YORK - RBC Dain Rauscher Corp. has put a descendant of a U.S. president in charge, and he, in turn, has named a new management team. The moves are seen as solidifying the Minneapolis-based brokerage firm's thrust...

Give it time: Stocks rise after disasters.(Short Interests)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Rick Miller CHICAGO - After a natural disaster, U.S. stock prices initially might drop, but often they gradually improve in subsequent months and years, according to Ibbotson Associates Inc. In light of Hurricanes Katrina and...

Hedge funds avoid a major hit from catastrophe bonds; Hurricanes not dire enough to have big impact.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Gary S. Mogel NEW YORK - Hedge funds that invest in catastrophe bonds have not been significantly affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, although the bonds may have to make payouts related to underlying insurance losses for the...

Plaintiff's attorneys look for next big thing.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Dan Jamieson CARLSBAD, Calif. - Securities plaintiff's attorneys are getting a bit of a breather. Attendees at the annual Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association meeting here this month said the bulk of "tech wreck'' and...

Broker-dealers not folding because of the hurricanes.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Sara Hansard WASHINGTON - No brokerage firms have been liquidated as a result of the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated much of the Gulf Coast area recently, according to the Securities Investor Protection Corp. The...

Advisers will operate under yellow flag with hedge funds; Hedge fund industry `ripe for abuse,' some say.(Industry Attitudes)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Jeff Benjamin DETROIT - When it comes to hedge funds, most financial advisers choose to proceed with caution if they proceed at all. More than 83% of advisers who participated in the fifth annual Industry Attitudes survey cited...

CHART: Closed-end funds; World equity fares best, narrows discount.(The Markets)
October 10, 2005... See printed publication for the following: General muni discount General muni premium World equity discount World equity premium U.S. diversified & sector equity discount U.S. diversified & sector equity premium ...

Parent's legal woes chase away Vice Fund manager; Plans to continue `sinful' investing at own firm.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Ilana Polyak NEW YORK - There are some sins that even a sinner can't pardon. Dan Ahrens, former manager of the Vice Fund, an offering that buys shares of companies engaged in "politically incorrect'' activities or goods, has...

Putnam finds 401(k) savings rate key to growth; Urges a focus on getting employees to contribute.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Rick Miller CHICAGO - When it comes to helping Americans save more for retirement, the defined contribution industry has been too focused on investment returns rather than on what matters most: increasing 401(k) contribution rates,...

NYSE merger is looking like a done deal; Seat holders likely to vote approval despite challenges.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Aaron Elstein CNS NEW YORK - When the New York Stock Exchange unfurled its plan for a $6 billion merger with Archipelago Holdings Inc. six months ago, David Corcoran was appalled. A seat holder for more than 25 years, he thought...

An obscure fund getting ready to promote itself.(Street Wise)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Jeff Benjamin If you haven't yet heard of Jonathan Ferrell and his $9 million Rock Canyon Top Flight Fund (TOPFX), it's because he has never gone out of his way to market his unusual strategy. But that's all likely to change as...

Fidelity steps up focus on financial advisers; Part of plan to prepare for retiring boomers.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. BOSTON - Ned Johnson is taking financial advisers more seriously. The venerable chairman of Fidelity Investments, the world's biggest mutual fund company, is making it clear to the rank and file at the...

People.
October 10, 2005... AIG SunAmerica Retirement Markets Inc. in Los Angeles has hired Tim W. Still, 50, as senior vice president and chief operations officer. He will be responsible for all aspects of client service and operations for the company's variable annuity...

Funds plan to exploit advertising opportunity; With the bear gone, 3-year equity returns suddenly look better.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: David Hoffman NEW YORK - Mutual fund investors are likely soon to get hit with advertising that includes returns that may be misleading, according to industry experts. Annualized three-year returns of many equity funds...

Graying boomer planners face transition issues; FPA, NAPFA help members assess options.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Charles Paikert NEW YORK - Succession planning and other transition strategies have emerged as popular subjects among financial planners. With the average age of a Financial Planning Association member now at 50, those topics...

At the Bell; Advisers getting break on their registry fees.(Late News)
October 10, 2005... Investment advisory firms and their representatives are getting a break on fees for registration in the Internet-based Investment Adviser Registration Depository disclosure system. On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the...

It may be time to buy, as consumers balk; Comforting clients while seeking investments.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Jeff Benjamin DETROIT - Financial advisers are doing more hand-holding these days as consumer confidence plummets in the face of skyrocketing energy prices, pessimism over the war in Iraq and the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and...

AIG exec charged in Azerbaijan scam.(Reverse Spin)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Great. Add Azerbaijan to the list of countries where we are known as "ugly Americans.'' David Pinkerton, a managing director in the global investment group at New York's American International Group...

Reforms haven't restored confidence in funds; Attitude on changes in SEC leadership is wait and see.(Industry Attitudes)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Sara Hansard WASHINGTON - Despite one of the most active periods in regulatory history for the mutual fund industry, nearly two-thirds of advisers expressed the belief that the heavy dose of financial regulations put in place over...

Closing Quote.(Quotes)
October 10, 2005... "This is another line that Schwab is drawing in the sand in trying to compete with a Merrill Lynch broker.'' Terry Siman, president of Executive Financial Services Inc., referring to Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.'s announcement that it is...

Raymond James works to push VA price cuts; Expects other brokers to follow its lead into low-cost territory.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Dan Jamieson IRVINE, Calif. - Raymond James Financial Inc. is working with insurance carriers to lower fees on variable annuities its brokers sell. By May, the firm plans to cap upfront gross on variable annuities at 5% and...

The hypocrisy of opposing repeal of the estate tax.(Monday Morning)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Mike Clowes There's more than a whiff of hypocrisy about those campaigning against the repeal of the estate tax. The campaign is led by a Washington-based organization called Americans for a Fair Estate Tax. Guess what?...

Regulatory pushes force broker-dealers to adapt.(News)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Bruce Kelly WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. - The push to increase regulation of the investment advice industry clearly is forcing changes for brokers and advisers. That was a chief theme at the annual meeting here last week of Cadaret...